


Something's Wrong

by alicorniansheepyllama



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark Shiro (Voltron), Friendship, Galra Shiro (Voltron), Gen, Hugs, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Langst, Near Death Experiences, Shiro (Voltron) Has a Clone, Strangulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 20:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14922683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicorniansheepyllama/pseuds/alicorniansheepyllama
Summary: Lance knows that something is wrong with Shiro, but no one will believe him, not even his best friend! He's determined to figure out what's going on, but that determination could have dire consequences.





	Something's Wrong

“I’m telling you Hunk, there’s something seriously wrong with Shiro. Even he agrees!” Lance insisted. 

“I don’t know Lance.” said Hunk. “It could just be stress. He’s been through a lot lately. Maybe we just need to give him time. I’m sure Shiro will be back to his old self soon.”

Lance shook his head. “That’s just it. It’s almost as if… his old self isn’t there at all!”

Hunk sighed, and Lance could tell that he wasn’t buying it. “Come on Hunk, you have to believe me! I wouldn’t be talking to you about this unless I was sure that something was going on.” 

“It’s not that I don’t believe you! It’s just…” Hunk started, but then trailed off. 

Lance sighed. “Yeah… I got it. Whatever, I’ll see you later.” With that, Lance got up and left, ignoring Hunk’s calls for him to come back. 

After that, Lance was avoiding both Hunk and Shiro. He could tell that Hunk was a bit hurt, but Lance was hurt too. He couldn’t look Hunk in the eyes without feeling a twinge of sadness that his friend wouldn’t listen to him, when they had known each other for so long and had always had each other’s backs. And avoiding Shiro was, of course, for safety reasons. 

Lance was in the training hall a few days later when an alert came from the castle about a ship entering. He instantly dropped his Bayard and headed out, knowing that Keith had just returned. He missed Keith more than he would care to admit. 

Before he could leave the training hall, however, Shiro entered. Lance stopped in his tracks, and stared at him nervously. “Lance. Where are you heading off to?” Shiro asked, coming closer to him. 

Lance gulped and said, “To see Keith. He just got here, right?” 

Shiro nodded. “That’s right, and everyone is greeting Keith right now. They’ll be on the other side of the ship for quite some time I’d imagine.” 

This comment turned Lance’s nervousness to fear. His eyes widened, and he said, “Uh… yeah, great observation there. But of course…they’ll come over here eventually.”

Shiro laughed. “True… but a lot can happen before then, wouldn’t you say? See, I happen to know that you’ve been very busy lately… trying to turn everyone against me.” This voice turned more serious. “I don’t appreciate that Lance.” 

“I’m not trying to turn anyone against you!” Lance insisted. “I’m just worried. You’re not yourself Shiro, and I want to help you.” 

“No.” said Shiro, with a darkness in his voice that sent shivers down Lance’s spine. “You won’t ruin everything we’ve worked for. If you’re going to insist on being an obstacle, then we’ll have to deal with you.” 

“Wait… what do you mean we-” Lance had begun to say, but was cut off when Shiro suddenly lunged for him. Before Lance could react, Shiro grabbed him by the throat and squeezed hard. Instantly, Lance’s air was cut off, and he began to struggle.

“Sorry Lance, but we can’t have you getting in our way.” Shiro growled, his metal arm glowing as it had an iron grip on him. 

Lance opened his mouth, trying to call for help, but only a strangled cough came out. Stars began to dance across his vision. “H-He…l…p” he finally managed to get out in a whisper. 

Shiro laughed. “Aww, you think someone’s gonna come help you? Now that’s hilarious.” He held Lance up against the wall, and Lance kicked his legs desperately, trying to get free. 

“P-Plea…s-se” Lance begged. “Stop…” But Shiro didn’t let up. Lance’s vision began to fade, and his struggles weakened as his body tried to conserve oxygen.

Shiro leaned in close to Lance’s face and whispered, “This is what happens to those who stand in the way of the Galra. No matter how successful you think you are, everyone will fall… starting with the persistent ones like you.” 

That was the last thing Lance heard, before he lost consciousness, and went limp.

* * *

What Shiro didn’t know was that Keith had information about Project Kuron, and the actual reason for his visit was to investigate it. Keith didn’t know much, just that Shiro wasn’t what he seemed, and could possibly be dangerous.

When Keith stepped off the ship, the rest of the Paladins were crowded around to welcome him. Keith looked around, and after a minute, asked, “Where’s Shiro?”

Allura looked around and said, “I’m not sure. He must be around the castle somewhere.Perhaps he doesn’t know that you arrived yet.”

Keith shook his head, and after scanning the room again, his eyes widened. “Where’s Lance?” This time, he didn’t wait for an answer. Keith stepped off the ship, walked right past the Paladins, and went to look for Lance and Shiro.

He quickly searched the rooms and dining hall, and headed for the training hall. The other Paladins were following him, trying to figure out what was going on, but he took no notice. When Keith entered the training hall, what he saw made be stop in his tracks. Shiro was holding up an unconscious Lance against the wall in a choke hold. Keith knew he had to act fast. He ignored the gasps of horror behind him, and grabbed the taser gun from its holster in the wall. Then he aimed it at and Shiro and fired.

Shiro looked at Keith, shocked, and they locked eyes for a moment, before the blast hit him, and he was knocked unconscious. Lance also dropped lifelessly to the ground.

 Keith dropped the gun and stumbled towards them. When he reached Lance, Keith pulled him away from Shiro, laid him flat on the ground, and put his hand and ear to Lance’s chest to see if he was still breathing. He felt fear take ahold of him, when he realized that he wasn’t. 

Immediately, Keith turned to the other Paladins, who were halfway down the stairs, each with different levels of fear and horror on their faces, and started giving them orders. “Allura and Pidge, go get a healing pod ready, Coran, take Shiro and put him in a healing pod, Hunk, Help me down here with Lance!”

Everyone followed Keith’s orders, and Hunk quickly joined him next to Lance, as he had begun trying to resuscitate him. “This is all my fault…” Hunk was mumbling. “Lance told me something was wrong withShiro, and I didn’t believe him.”

“Stop blaming yourself and help me!” snapped Keith.

That seemed to work, and Hunk started performing CPR while Keith did rescue breaths. It seemed to stretch on forever, but about a minute into it, Lance gasped weakly and took in air. Keith sighed with relief and wiped sweat from his forehead. Hunk, who had started crying, gasped through his tears and sat back, also relieved.

“It’s not over yet.” Keith said. “Help me carry him to the infirmary.”

Hunk picked up Lance, who was still unconscious, and practically ran, Keith following behind. When they entered, Allura and Pidge had a healing pod all ready, and they quickly put Lance inside.

Coran, who had just finished putting Shiro in, went over to check the statistics. After a minute, he turned to the team with a tired expression. “According to the pod, Lance should be well enough to come out within a few days. However, humans can’t survive long without oxygen, and depending on how long he went without it, Lance’s brain may have been… damaged. Unfortunately, the pod cannot revive dead human brain cells.”

Everyone was silent as they took in this information. After a minute, Pidge asked quietly, “Do we know how much his brain was affected?”

Coran shook his head. “We won’t know until he comes out.”

The next few days were torture for the Paladins. There was at least one person in the infirmary at all times, for when Lance would wake up. Shiro was left in manual stasis, so they didn’t have to worry about him for awhile. Hunk spent the most time in the infirmary by far, watching Lance sadly. Everyone had tried to console Hunk, insisting that it wasn’t his fault, but it didn’t make him feel any less guilty. Keith would sometimes walk by and hear him talking to Lance.

Four excruciating days after the incident, the pod opened. Hunk and Coran were in the room when it happened, and Hunk was ready to catch him. Lance fell into his arms, and Hunk held him tightly for a minute. Then he held Lance out to get a good look at him, and Coran was standing close by, watching him closely.

Lance was dazed for moment, and then focused on Hunk and Coran. His eyes flickered from one to the other, before he asked, “What’s going on?”

Hunk let go of Lance, and to his relief, he was able to stand on his own. Coran also looked relieved as he stepped forward. “Well my boy, you were attacked. We weren’t sure if you would make a full recovery, but it seems as if you have.” He smiled.

Lance’s memory clicked, and he looked around nervously. “Where’s Shiro?”

“In a pod.” answered Hunk coldly. “Don’t worry, we won’t let him touch you ever again.” He put his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.”

Lance sighed. “It’s okay Hunk. I probably wouldn’t have believed me either. I mean, Shiro’s our leader!”

Hunk grimaced. “Yeah, but you’re my best friend! I should’ve trusted you.”

Lance smiled. “Well, even if you did royally screw up… I think hearing you say thatmore than makes up for it.”

Hunk laughed tearily and wrapped his arms around Lance in a big hug. They continued to embrace until the door opened and the rest of the team came in.

“Coran told us that Lance was awake!” said Pidge excitedly.

“And didn’t have any brain damage?” Continued Keith with hope in his voice.

Hunk nodded, letting him go. Immediately, Lance was given more hugs. Keith approached, mumbling, “Besides the already existing that is…” in a teasing tone before hugging him gently and breathing a sigh of relief. “Never. Scare me like that again.”

“Not planning on it Mullet.” Lance said teasingly.

Regardless of what would happen with Shiro, the team was solely focused on this moment, grateful that their fellow teammate and friend would not be lost to them.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, this is my first Voltron fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, let me know and maybe I'll write more, especially after season 6 drops! Speaking of which, I have some some obsessing to get beck to. See ya! XD


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